AKLFan3
AKV Owner...I DO love the neighbors!
- Joined
- Sep 26, 2007
- Messages
- 337
I'm back from my first trip to Vero Beach and I had a great time! I went with my mom and aunt, (it was my aunt's birthday), and I just LOVED the resort. It is very relaxing and the decor reminds me of the BCV mixed with OKW.
We made the mistake of booking a flight to the Melbourne airport which is the closest airport to Vero Beach. We're from Michigan so this required us to do a layover in Atlanta then take Delta's tiny CRJ-200 jet to Melbourne. The airport itself was very nice and small and renting a car was easy, but I hate connecting flights. Our motive in booking that flight was so that we wouldn't have to drive too long to get to the hotel. We found out that we would've saved time and money if we had just booked a non-stop flight to Orlando like we usually do when going to WDW and driven from Orlando airport to Vero Beach. Melbourne was about a 45 minute drive from Vero Beach so it only saved us 15 minutes of drive time. The layover in Atlanta forced us to travel pretty much all day and we arrived at Vero Beach after dark. Next time we go to Vero, we will just fly to Orlando and drive to the hotel.
We finally got to the resort around 6:30 pm on Sunday and we pleased to find it wasn't very crowded. Since it was after dark, we couldn't see the ocean very well but we could hear it! The waves were just fantastic but it was extremely windy since Tropical Storm Ida was making her way across the west coast of Florida. We ate at Sonya's for dinner and had the very tasty Rib-eye steak. It was huge, larger than my hand! No one is supposed to eat that much meat but we were starving after our long travel day and managed to clean our plates. I can't remember our server's name but she was from Nottingham, England and was very attentive and nice. After dinner, we walked around the property a bit even though it was after dark, and we browsed the Island Grove Packing Company gift shop. The gift shop is quite small, smaller than the WDW hotel gift shops and I was disappointed to find that they ran out of the Vero Beach pins. One of the cast members had me write down my name and phone number and she said they would call me when it came in. We headed to bed early and just relaxed in our rooms. We used our points to book two Deluxe Inn Ocean View rooms. I'm very glad we booked those rooms because originally mom and I were in a 2 bedroom and my aunt was in her own Ocean View room. A few months before our trip, I called VB and asked if the 2 bedroom room had an ocean view and they said no. We also wanted to be in the same building as my aunt for convenience so we switched. I also put in a request for our room to be next to our aunt's and I was worried they would not be able to honor this request since we were checking in so late. But thankfully, they were able to put us next to each other and our view was fantastic! Being able to see the ocean is very important to us so whenever we go again, I'll either get the Ocean View room again or if other family members come with us, I'll book the Beach Cottage. It appears that the Ocean View or Beach Cottage rooms are the only way to guarantee a view of the ocean.
The next day we slept in and had breakfast at Shutters. I had a grapefruit and the ham and cheese omelet. The omelet came with toast and potatoes. It was a really big portion and I couldn't finish it all. Shutters was really great for breakfast, the service was fast and it was nearly empty. We took the rental car and drove into town to explore. We found the nearest Publix grocery store and stopped at one of the public beaches to watch the ocean. We did not find too many shops that were worth going into. Vero Beach mostly seems like a very sleepy town, but perhaps we just didn't drive in the right direction. After we returned to the hotel, we walked along the beach then sat by the pool to get some sun. I was slightly disappointed with the beach. It was very long but also extremely narrow and full of seaweed. We overheard a cast member telling another guest that the last two hurricanes washed away most of their beach and they're planning to rebuild it by trucking in lots of sand. A lot of the sand had been pushed up onto the walkway ramp and actually had buried a good portion of it. We could see the handrails sticking out of the sand and we saw two cast members tying Caution tape on some of the wooden posts. Someone could easily trip over the buried posts and injure themselves. It was slightly difficult walking on the beach because the only part of it left was a big hill that created a barrier to the resort. I have been to many beaches in the Caribbean and Mexico that had ample room to walk and did not look as unmanaged as VB. But you can't do much to control nature so it didn't annoy me, I was just happy to be there.
When leaving the beach, there is a sign asking guests to wash their feet to get rid of the tar before entering the pool area. Next to the sign, there is a fountain to wash the sand from your feet. I had no idea what they were talking about with the reference to tar but my mom actually did have some black sticky stuff on her ankle. I suppose tar is in the sand somehow and it took her a few minutes to remove it.
The next day was my aunt's birthday and we drove to WDW to take advantage of the free entry into the park for her birthday. VB gave my aunt her birthday button and a card, plus when we ate breakfast at Shutters that morning, they gave her a small slice of birthday cake! We ate at 7:30 am so we couldn't finish the cake, which was extremely sweet. They also gave my mom and I two buttons that said, "We're Celebrating!" We decided to go to Animal Kingdom since my aunt had never been before. The free entry on your birthday ticket is only good for 1 park and Animal Kingdom is our favorite. The drive to WDW only took 1.5 hours, we didn't encounter any traffic despite going through several construction zones. I've never driven to WDW since we always rely on the bus service there, so this was a new experience for me. The signs were very clear and the parking lot wasn't very full so we walked to the front gate. We picked up my aunt's ticket at Will Call and she loved the fact that she saved $79, the cost to enter Animal Kingdom for 1 day. Mom and I had our annual passes so we were all set. After spending several hours in the park, we drove to AKV, (our home resort), and had lunch at Sanaa. The server sang Happy Birthday to my aunt and she received a slice of very delicious chocolate cake. The drive back to VB took a little longer than usual, about 2 hours this time. We were still stuffed from Sanaa so we had dinner in the Green Cabin Room lounge. We ate boneless buffalo wings which were delicious! They're quite spicy, which we love, so we greatly enjoyed them.
Overall, VB is a great resort and I look forward to staying there again. It is nice to spend a day or two relaxing there then head to the park for a day. We love beach vacations and enjoy relaxing but I would probably only spend 2 or 3 nights there again maximum. I would really like to do a split stay with 3 nights at AKV then 2 nights at VB. I've added a few pictures at the bottom.
We made the mistake of booking a flight to the Melbourne airport which is the closest airport to Vero Beach. We're from Michigan so this required us to do a layover in Atlanta then take Delta's tiny CRJ-200 jet to Melbourne. The airport itself was very nice and small and renting a car was easy, but I hate connecting flights. Our motive in booking that flight was so that we wouldn't have to drive too long to get to the hotel. We found out that we would've saved time and money if we had just booked a non-stop flight to Orlando like we usually do when going to WDW and driven from Orlando airport to Vero Beach. Melbourne was about a 45 minute drive from Vero Beach so it only saved us 15 minutes of drive time. The layover in Atlanta forced us to travel pretty much all day and we arrived at Vero Beach after dark. Next time we go to Vero, we will just fly to Orlando and drive to the hotel.
We finally got to the resort around 6:30 pm on Sunday and we pleased to find it wasn't very crowded. Since it was after dark, we couldn't see the ocean very well but we could hear it! The waves were just fantastic but it was extremely windy since Tropical Storm Ida was making her way across the west coast of Florida. We ate at Sonya's for dinner and had the very tasty Rib-eye steak. It was huge, larger than my hand! No one is supposed to eat that much meat but we were starving after our long travel day and managed to clean our plates. I can't remember our server's name but she was from Nottingham, England and was very attentive and nice. After dinner, we walked around the property a bit even though it was after dark, and we browsed the Island Grove Packing Company gift shop. The gift shop is quite small, smaller than the WDW hotel gift shops and I was disappointed to find that they ran out of the Vero Beach pins. One of the cast members had me write down my name and phone number and she said they would call me when it came in. We headed to bed early and just relaxed in our rooms. We used our points to book two Deluxe Inn Ocean View rooms. I'm very glad we booked those rooms because originally mom and I were in a 2 bedroom and my aunt was in her own Ocean View room. A few months before our trip, I called VB and asked if the 2 bedroom room had an ocean view and they said no. We also wanted to be in the same building as my aunt for convenience so we switched. I also put in a request for our room to be next to our aunt's and I was worried they would not be able to honor this request since we were checking in so late. But thankfully, they were able to put us next to each other and our view was fantastic! Being able to see the ocean is very important to us so whenever we go again, I'll either get the Ocean View room again or if other family members come with us, I'll book the Beach Cottage. It appears that the Ocean View or Beach Cottage rooms are the only way to guarantee a view of the ocean.
The next day we slept in and had breakfast at Shutters. I had a grapefruit and the ham and cheese omelet. The omelet came with toast and potatoes. It was a really big portion and I couldn't finish it all. Shutters was really great for breakfast, the service was fast and it was nearly empty. We took the rental car and drove into town to explore. We found the nearest Publix grocery store and stopped at one of the public beaches to watch the ocean. We did not find too many shops that were worth going into. Vero Beach mostly seems like a very sleepy town, but perhaps we just didn't drive in the right direction. After we returned to the hotel, we walked along the beach then sat by the pool to get some sun. I was slightly disappointed with the beach. It was very long but also extremely narrow and full of seaweed. We overheard a cast member telling another guest that the last two hurricanes washed away most of their beach and they're planning to rebuild it by trucking in lots of sand. A lot of the sand had been pushed up onto the walkway ramp and actually had buried a good portion of it. We could see the handrails sticking out of the sand and we saw two cast members tying Caution tape on some of the wooden posts. Someone could easily trip over the buried posts and injure themselves. It was slightly difficult walking on the beach because the only part of it left was a big hill that created a barrier to the resort. I have been to many beaches in the Caribbean and Mexico that had ample room to walk and did not look as unmanaged as VB. But you can't do much to control nature so it didn't annoy me, I was just happy to be there.
When leaving the beach, there is a sign asking guests to wash their feet to get rid of the tar before entering the pool area. Next to the sign, there is a fountain to wash the sand from your feet. I had no idea what they were talking about with the reference to tar but my mom actually did have some black sticky stuff on her ankle. I suppose tar is in the sand somehow and it took her a few minutes to remove it.The next day was my aunt's birthday and we drove to WDW to take advantage of the free entry into the park for her birthday. VB gave my aunt her birthday button and a card, plus when we ate breakfast at Shutters that morning, they gave her a small slice of birthday cake! We ate at 7:30 am so we couldn't finish the cake, which was extremely sweet. They also gave my mom and I two buttons that said, "We're Celebrating!" We decided to go to Animal Kingdom since my aunt had never been before. The free entry on your birthday ticket is only good for 1 park and Animal Kingdom is our favorite. The drive to WDW only took 1.5 hours, we didn't encounter any traffic despite going through several construction zones. I've never driven to WDW since we always rely on the bus service there, so this was a new experience for me. The signs were very clear and the parking lot wasn't very full so we walked to the front gate. We picked up my aunt's ticket at Will Call and she loved the fact that she saved $79, the cost to enter Animal Kingdom for 1 day. Mom and I had our annual passes so we were all set. After spending several hours in the park, we drove to AKV, (our home resort), and had lunch at Sanaa. The server sang Happy Birthday to my aunt and she received a slice of very delicious chocolate cake. The drive back to VB took a little longer than usual, about 2 hours this time. We were still stuffed from Sanaa so we had dinner in the Green Cabin Room lounge. We ate boneless buffalo wings which were delicious! They're quite spicy, which we love, so we greatly enjoyed them.
Overall, VB is a great resort and I look forward to staying there again. It is nice to spend a day or two relaxing there then head to the park for a day. We love beach vacations and enjoy relaxing but I would probably only spend 2 or 3 nights there again maximum. I would really like to do a split stay with 3 nights at AKV then 2 nights at VB. I've added a few pictures at the bottom.
